Relative of murdered child laments violence: Pure evil

The murders of three-year-old Nazim Owen and three others have left relatives speechless as they try to understand the motive that led to such a violent attack on a family.

Nazim, was travelling in a Nissan B15 with his parents and guests from a wedding at around 1.20 am on Sunday when they were shot at.

Also killed in the attack were Chelsea Julien, 27, Akil Keron Gloster and driver Marcus Noel, 41.

Nazim's father, Nicholas Owen and family friend Khadijah Vilbara were wounded during the attack.

Nazim was the third child to be murdered in October.

The body of 15-year-old Videsh Dookran was found stuffed in an outhouse behind a pluckshop in Golconda between October 8 and 9.

On October 15, nine-year-old Jomol Modeste was gunned down during a drive-by shooting at the Africa Recreation Grounds, Enterprise, Chaguanas.

Speaking with Newsday at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, on Tuesday, one of Nazim's relatives who asked not to be named said she still could not believe the child was murdered.

Noting that she was also the mother of small children, she said it was unthinkable that a child as young as Nazim could die in such a violent way and questioned how the killers could live with themselves after committing such crimes.

"Where is the love and where is the care? Is it that people don't have any remorse for anyone anymore?

"To me it's like spiritual warfare, it's pure evil out there right now.

"Nobody has any respect or any remorse for anyone right now, a man comes from a woman, a woman is the beginning of civilisation and everyone seems to forget that.

"They don't have any respect or any care or anything."

The relative noted that even criminals once observed certain principles where they would not harm women or children, but lamented that anyone could be a target regardless of their age.

She described Nazim as a happy child who enjoyed eating chicken and was well-loved by all of his relatives.

Newsday also spoke to a relative of driver Marcus Noel who said he was only hired to drive the family to and from the wedding and was not involved in any crime.

She said Noel worked hard to provide for his sons ages seven and eight but was aware of the dangers of being a taxi driver.

"He was very selective about the people he took hire jobs from. He always used to tell me to be careful because he knew how dangerous the whole world was getting.

"It's hurting in ways that I can't even explain.

"I just wish I could be there to help him out or maybe even warn him that something like this was going to happen."

The woman said Noel's mother died three months ago and was depressed for a while but was happy to see him enjoying himself at the wedding through his WhatsApp statuses on Saturday night.

"When I saw his updates on WhatsApp I wanted to call him. I didn't but I should have."

When asked what she felt should be done to further combat crime, the relative said the authorities should take a more aggressive approach to rooting out criminals in different communities.

"I think the police need to work with the soldiers like long time if something happens in La Puerta they would go and do patrols and do house to house searches to find who is responsible."

She also dismissed claims on social media that Noel was the target of the attackers, noting that he worked as a taxi driver and generally kept to himself.

Police in the Western Division have also said that Noel was not the intended target.